Love Changes
by Animerica4
Summary: A human encounters one of the nations and deals with his feelings for them over the years. -oneshot-


He was just an ordinary boy, about average height with an average appearance. From an early age, he'd figured out that his life wouldn't be more special or cooler than others, so all he was concerned about was trying to fit in – with his friends and with the world.

But he was living in a not so average place.

His family had been situated on Belarusian soil since the early 1600's, and even though it was the 21st century, the ancestral homeland held fast and they refused to move. He, however, hated living in Belarus.

"Oh, what do you know, Dima? You're only eleven," his parents and older sister would constantly say to him, and he hated that too. At least his younger sisters Lena and Jema understood him.

But even his two youngest siblings would side with their parents sometimes. He occasionally wondered if anyone would ever get his way of thinking, someday.

So he supposed that it was fate, when he met her.

-line break—

It was another ordinary day. He met up with his two best friends at the edge of town, and they talked and hung out at their favorite places. He had just been about to suggest that they head over to his house for a change, when someone caught his eye.

She was wearing a rather old fashioned dress, which was out of place in the crowd of people. He observed her for several minutes, but she didn't seem to be really doing anything other than standing there, scowling.

He told his friends to wait and went over to her. _She doesn't look like a tourist…_ he thought. "Excuse me, ma'am, but are you lost?"

It took a few tries but he eventually got her attention. "What do you want, kid?" she asked in a harsh tone. He blinked, taken by surprise by her answer.

"Well, you were just standing in the middle of everyone's way…" he trailed off, not sure what else to say. She glared at him, and then crossed her arms.

"And what exactly makes you think that you can just talk to me?" she asked him. He fell silent, unsure what to make of her behavior.

"Are you a tourist here or something?" she asked. Then she laughed to herself. "I'd never thought I'd see the day where a tourist is trying to tell _me_ what to do."

He shook his head frantically. "Oh no, I'm not a tourist…and I wasn't trying to tell you what to do, I swear!" She glanced at him, appearing a bit more interested now.

"So why exactly are you trying to talk to me?"

"Oh, um…well…you were just standing there, not really doing anything. So I came over and…"

"Ah, I see. Nice of you to think of others, I suppose. But you don't have to worry; I was just waiting for my husband."

 _Wait, she has a husband?! But she's only, what, sixteen? At least that's how old she looks…_

"You have a husband at your age?" he asked her, and she nodded.

"His name's Ivan. I've been in love him with since forever, I guess. But he's mine, so back off."

Dima thought for a minute. "Uh…I'm not gay, though. So why would I want him?"

The young woman didn't seem to hear him. She gasped and looked off in another direction. "There he is!" She took off and vanished into the crowd, almost as if she were just a ghost.

He stared after her, feeling slightly disappointed and _very_ confused. _I never even got her name…_

-line break—

There was an unusual feeling of giddiness in the air tonight. Or maybe it was just from drinking way too much alcohol. Dima was currently celebrating his nineteenth birthday at a downtown club in Greece. He had been living in various locations around Europe for the past four years or so and was about due for a trip back home to see his family.

His host, a rather sleepy looking man with a bunch of cats following him, had disappeared as soon as they had arrived at the club, so he was just hanging out with a few tourists at the back of the room.

One was a feminine Asian man who kept smiling randomly and mumbling about someone who was, for some reason, named England. Dima figured it was just from the alcohol. It was either that or they were an insane person.

He hoped it was the alcohol.

The other tourist was an extremely loud American one with a weird strand of hair that wouldn't seem to go down. "Yo, dude, how's about you and me ditch this joint and check out the town?"

Dima glanced around, only to confirm that there were no other people sitting next to him. He gave the American a weak smile. "No thanks, I'd rather leave with my host," he told the guy. The tourist put a hand on his shoulder.

"Ah, c'mon! It could be fun, dude! Who knows, we might even run into some hot Greek chicks!"

He looked down and chuckled nervously. "That's a nice offer, but no thank you. I will leave with my host instead."

That's when he heard the voice. His head shot straight up and he looked across the room. It was her.

She was standing with two other people, one who was very tall and one who had amazingly huge breasts. She seemed to be clinging to the tall one and hissing whenever someone approached them.

His eyes widened and he had to remind himself to take slow, deep breaths. _It's been eight years and she still looks exactly the same as when we first met…how can that be? She's even wearing…the same dress._

Dima got up and walked over to her.

She noticed him when he got within three feet of her. She didn't seem to recognize him, however.

"What do you want?" she asked him, and he froze. _Exactly the same question she asked me eight years ago_ , he thought.

"Hello," he said. Her eyes darted between the tall man and him, but finally focused on him.

"What's your name, stranger?" the man asked, with a disturbing smile on his face. Dima hesitated for a second before looking into the same girl's face.

"My name is Dima Novik," he replied, and their eyes lit up.

The man folded his hands together. "Ah, so you are Russian?" Dima shook his head.

"But you have a Russian name," the man said.

"Yes, I know, but I'm actually from Belarus. I was born there."

"I see," the man replied. "Well, I am known as Ivan, and these are my sisters," he gestured to the women. "Natalia is the angry one, but Sofia is a very nice person."

The woman with the breasts – apparently named Sofia – waved briefly at him. He nodded at her then focused back on Ivan and the other sister. "This might sound a bit strange, but I know your sister, Natalia."

Ivan's face went blank and he looked at her. She rolled her eyes. "I've never seen this man before in my life, brother," she assured him.

"We met eight years ago," he said. She cast a quick glance at him. "I was eleven, and you still looked the same as you do right now."

Her brow furrowed, and then it seemed to hit her. "Ah, I remember you now. You were that rude boy." He scoffed at her words.

"I was not; you were the one that was rude."

They conversed for a bit more, and gradually Natalia began to leave her brother and sister behind as the two of them drifted out away from the club. They soon found themselves at a restaurant.

"Uh, what are we doing here?" he wondered aloud. She shrugged.

"Do you wanna go in?" she asked.

"Sure, why not," he replied.

She was losing her scowl very fast, he noticed, and he made an attempt to keep this up. "Did anyone ever tell you that you have the most beautiful eyes?" he said, and she blushed.

"Not even my own brother has complimented me like that," she admitted. "Thank you."

They wandered around for an hour after eating, before heading back to the club. "I don't know where my host went, but I have to leave with him if I want to make it to the airport on time," he told her.

"Why? Where are you going?"

"I'm flying back into Belarus to see my family again; I haven't seen them in four years."

"Oh."

He paused. "If you give me your phone number, we can still keep in touch."

She smiled at him. "That would be nice."

-line break—

Life was unfair, he decided. He had been planning to propose for a year now, and out of nowhere the news that he only has nine more months to live comes.

 _Who cares if it's genetic? I'm only twenty one; I'm not going to let anything get the best of me right now._

Natalia was the light of his life – if he didn't have her, he had no idea what he should be doing. Despite being the distant one in the relationship, he still pursued her with a fierce passion, and even after months of knowing each other, he still had no clue about what she was really like.

But that was all going to change, once he proposed. And he was going to do it, tonight.

-line break—

"…Natalia?"

"Yes, what do you want?"

"I just wanted to say how special you are to me, and I've loved you for a very long time."

She pulled back, alarmed. "Dima, we've talked about this. There's just no way that I can be in a relationship with you, ever. I'm sorry."

"I know, but I cannot hold my feelings back any longer. So even though you're mysterious, and sarcastic, and quite possibly the most dangerous woman I've ever met and you could break all my bones in a moment, my love for you still burns bright like a flame. So, Natalia…"

"…will you marry me?"

There was an uncomfortably long moment of silence. Natalia's expression was unreadable.

"No."

"Don't get me wrong, Dima, I like you a lot…as a friend. But I cannot marry you. Besides, I already love my brother."

Then she turned around and left.

-line break—

"Looks like I got to live a lot longer than nine months," he said to himself, laughing. "It's almost been three years! But I knew fate would have me eventually…"

That night, he dreamt that he held her hand, and they were close once again.

 _ **A/N: I honestly had no idea where I was gonna go with this story in the beginning and it was a lot sadder than I first expected it to be. You can probably figure out who "the American tourist" and "the man with cats" are, but the Asian mumbling about England is actually supposed to be China.**_

 _ **I hope that I didn't mess up Belarus too much. Please enjoy! Follow, review, favorite, whatever!**_ __


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